Sunday, April 18, 2010

NSA CONTINUES to GO AFTER AMERICAN WHISTLEBLOWERS—WHEN will TAXPAYERS and RESPECT for AMERICA be MORE IMPORTANT THAN the NSA and DECEIT?

By Kevin Anthony Stoda

According to Democracy Now, “Newly disclosed documents show CIA officials expressed concern over a 2005 decision to destroy interrogation videos showing the water-boarding of foreign prisoners. The ninety-two tapes were destroyed amidst worries they would do political damage if ever publicly revealed. One agency staffer reported the official who ordered the destruction, Jose Rodriguez, worried the tapes’ disclosure would be ‘devastating’ and ‘felt it was extremely important to destroy the tapes.’ But one day after the destruction, the deputy to then-CIA executive director Kyle “Dusty” Foggo warned the move may have been ‘improper.’”

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/16/headlines#8

Democracy Now continued, “ In response, Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union said, ‘These documents provide further evidence that senior CIA officials were willing to risk being prosecuted for obstruction of justice in order to avoid being prosecuted for torture. If the Department of Justice fails to hold these officials accountable, they will have succeeded in their cover-up.’”

BRADLEY BIRKENFELD

Such federal trends by the national government’s failing services are also making it harder for whistle-blowers in the government to investigate other crimes, even of U.S. congressmen.

One jailed American banking whistle-blower, named Bradley Birkenfeld, who has already been in jail in the USA now for over three months, noted in an interview with Juan Gonzalez on DN the following: “[T]he UBS bank that he [had] worked for, the Swiss bank, actually had an office in Washington, DC, which the other bankers called the PEP office, which was for “politically exposed people.”

Moreover, Birkenfeld “claims it [PEP] was an office that handled the offshore bank accounts of American politicians. He said he did not have the names of those politicians, because he didn’t actually work in that office and it was closely held, but it was well known that there were major American politicians, as well, that were hiding their money in Swiss bank accounts.”

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/16/ubs

Gonzalez added, “[Bradley Birkenfeld] also said that UBS Americas, the US subsidiary, was directly involved in facilitating the recruitment of rich Americans to hide their bank—to hide their money in the Swiss parent company, that the UBS Americas would sponsor major society events and then invite the Swiss bankers over to mingle with the crowd of rich Americans, like Art Basel in Miami and other—the Boston Symphony events and others that the bank sponsored, and then invite the Swiss bankers over to recruit the rich Americans to put their money in Swiss banks. So it will be interesting to see if federal prosecutors continue to follow up on this issue, especially of major politicians being involved in hiding their money from the federal government in Swiss banks.”

On the one hand, Gonzalez stated, “[Y]ou have the fact that Robert Wolf, who was the chair of UBS Americas—or is the chair of UBS Americas, was the prime fundraiser and close confidante of Barack Obama, and still is, while the vice chair of UBS Americas is Phil Gramm, the—“.

That is, on the other hand, Gonzalez, also noted, “[F]ormer Texas senator [Gramm], . . . was also the senior adviser, economic adviser, to John McCain during the presidential campaign. So you had the fact that the chairman of UBS Americas was a close adviser to Barack Obama, while the vice chair was a senior economic adviser to John McCain. So UBS had the bases covered with both political parties in the last election.”

There is now little wonder that banks and bankers have pulled off the biggest federal benefit bonanza in the form of bank bailouts to CEOs in recent years.

DOUGLAS BIRKENFELD

Meanwhile, I have received the following email from the lawyers and whistle-blowers organization trying to help the jailed Birkenfeld. This letter was addressed from the brother of Bradley Birkenfeld.

”Dear Friend, Yesterday, the National Whistleblowers Center sent you a message, asking you to take action for my brother, Bradley Birkenfeld, who blew the whistle on UBS and is now in jail. As you know, this has been an extremely difficult time for Brad and our family, and I want to thank you for everything that you've done.

On tax day, Bradley formally filed a petition for clemency. I call upon you today to send a new letter of support to President Obama and the Pardon Attorney. If you have not already done so, please ask your friends and family to do the same, and create awareness by posting the action alert to your Facebook, Twitter and other social media pages.

Yesterday, honest Americans paid their taxes. Today, the government must hear our message - it is not acceptable to imprison a whistleblower while millionaires who cheat on their taxes walk free. I urge you to take action now.

Sincerely,

Douglas BirkenfeldP.S. You may want to read an excellent story published in today's New York Daily News.”

That particular e-mail was dated Friday, April the 16th—the day after your taxes were due.

Now, things seem to be getting worse for Whistle Blowers in the USA, especially due to the National Security (mis)leadership.

THOMAS DRAKE

Another DN story on Friday reported that a “National Security Agency whistleblower who helped expose details of the Bush administration’s domestic spy program has been indicted on charges of disclosing classified government information and obstructing justice in an ensuing investigation. The whistleblower, Thomas Drake, is said to have been the source for a Baltimore Sun series on the overspending and failings of the NSA’s efforts to maintain its large trove of domestic spy data. Lucy Dalglish of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press criticized the charges, saying, ‘The whole point of the prosecution is to have a chilling effect on reporters and sources, and it will.’”

I think that the NSA and the USA federal government and USA congressmen have been out of control in breaking the backs of good and justice-seeking peoples. Banks and financial institutions have been more out of control. However, for me, this persecution of Thomas Drake (and the reporters who worked with him) in showing how much money the NSA wastes each year is the last straw. Billions have been wasted and stolen from us in wars and in the name of national security in the last decade.

REFORM IS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY!!!!!

WE ALSO NEED TO SUPPORT WHISTLEBLOWERS MORE! What can we do?

Well, FIRST, contact Obama and tell him that you as an American do not want such prosecutions. You want real justice and fairness--especially banking and tax fairness. Here are some links for doing this.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

http://my.barackobama.com/page/content/contact/

http://www.ehow.com/how_2352363_contact-barack-obama.html

Also, contact the National Whistleblowers Center here:

http://www.whistleblowers.org/

or get involved with Project On Government Oversight:

http://www.pogo.org/

Finally, kick out a lot of bad senators and congressmen from their offices this year. Let’s go America!!!!